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Drainage work along Waters Avenue to prompt 45-day detour

Savannah Morning News

Greg Brunson, left, project superintendent for The Industrial Company, tells Heather Fish, right, specialist for the City of Savannah's Citizen Liaison Office, that the earthen bridge behind them on Waters Avenue has two pipes that are 9 feet tall and 14 feet wide, but a larger space will be made for the water in the Hampstead Canal to pass through when the new concrete arch bridge is constructed, which will be 9 feet tall and 50 feet wide. (Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News)

Savannah Morning News

Bob Scanlon, left, facilities maintenance director for the city of Savannah Facilities Maintenance Bureau, explains to media that the earthen bridge, behind, on Waters Avenue will be replaced with a new concrete arch bridge, which will be 9 feet tall and 50 feet wide, allowing more water from Hampstead Canal to pass through. (Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News)

Savannah Morning News

Hampstead Canal between Stuart and Early Streets on Wednesday. (Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News)

Savannah Morning News

Hampstead Canal between Stuart and Early Streets on Wednesday. (Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News)

Savannah Morning News

Savannah Morning News

Hampstead Canal between Stuart and Early Streets on Wednesday. (Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News)

Wheeler Street resident Jackie Jackson says she will join thousands of local motorists who will avoid Waters Avenue between DeRenne and Stephenson avenues starting Oct. 22.

Despite the extra 30 minutes that staying off Waters will add to her workday commute, Jackson insists the sacrifice is for a good cause.

"It's gonna slow me down," she admits. "But I totally agree with what they are doing because I see the need."

The city of Savannah announced Wednesday afternoon that drainage improvements along the approximate 16-block stretch of Waters Avenue will begin Oct. 22. That will prompt a 45-day detour around the area from Stephenson Avenue onto nearby Habersham or Abercorn streets to the west or Truman Parkway to the east.

"It will be 45 days of inconvenience, but hopefully people will find alternative routes during that time," said Bob Scanlon, Savannah's facilities maintenance director. "They might even find the Truman Parkway."

During the detour, Scanlon said, the city will replace two, 60-inch concrete pipes that act as more of a dam than the flood relief promised when they connected the Andover Ditch with Hampstead Canal.

"From previous work in the Jackson Woods area completed earlier this year, we saw an immediate improvement," Jackson said. "It's really needed. So it may be an inconvenience, but hopefully it will help the overall situation."

That's the city's hope as well.

"By replacing the bridge ... it will help water flow much more quickly," Scanlon said. "Relieving this one choke point should alleviate flooding in the entire area."

Since 1994, he said, 25 homes in that area have flooded.

Jackson acknowledged that her home, at the end of Wheeler Street, is among that number, although it has not happened in several years.

The $1.2 million third phase of improvements to Hampstead Canal will include the removal of the existing bridge and replacing it with a pre-fabricated, arched bridge made of concrete.

"It will go in in 15 different sections and will be lifted into place," said Heather Fish, a specialist in Savannah's Citizens' Liaison Office.

Scanlon said the pre-fabrication will help the city trim construction time to 45 days.

"Unfortunately, it will run into the Thanksgiving holiday," he said. "But the people whose homes flood in this area, they will be happy to see some improvements, from that standpoint."